SOUL MIGRATION
Alexandra couldn’t quite explain it, but she felt as if her mother’s soul had taken residence in this little girl. Normally, she didn’t believe in mystical ideas, but there were so many coincidences that it was hard to dismiss. The girl had been born eight months after her mother’s death—as if the soul had wandered where it needed to and returned to this world. Compounding the coincidence, the girl was born on Alexandra’s mother’s birthday, exactly forty-six years later.
The coincidences didn’t stop there. Alexandra had been hired as the girl’s nanny. This was her second stint in the role—she had first looked after her classmate’s younger sister, but now she was here. She wasn’t planning on being a nanny forever; she had applied to study psychology but hadn’t been accepted yet, though she was determined to succeed next time. Working as a shop assistant or waitress didn’t appeal to her, whereas being a nanny was something she genuinely enjoyed. Thanks to a glowing recommendation letter, the girl’s mother, Helen, decided to hire Alexandra, albeit with a trial period, and Alexandra honestly admitted she planned to attend university the following year. Helen, who was about five years older than Alexandra, offered to be on a first-name basis.
“Well, that’s nice. Annie will be starting at a special nursery soon,” Helen reassured her. “She’s so advanced, she could have started ages ago, but I’ve been worried. She has special activities every day. There’s something I haven’t mentioned, but I hope it won’t be an issue. Some nannies get scared by the status of having a child with a disability or ask for a compensation I can’t afford.”
Alexandra imagined something dire, like the little girl awaiting surgery for a cleft palate, or perhaps dealing with epilepsy.
“Annie has sensorineural hearing loss; it’s hereditary.”
Alexandra smiled and interrupted her. “Don’t worry, I know all about that. It runs in my family too.”
“That’s why I invited you. Our mutual friend mentioned your mother had the same condition, so I didn’t think you’d be put off.”
Alexandra wasn’t worried about it; modern devices could almost fully restore hearing, unlike her mother, who had to communicate using sign language.
The last coincidence was the striking resemblance between the girl and her mother—dark eyes, eyebrows with a perpetually surprised lift, and curly, unruly hair. Alexandra had even gone back to her father for her mother’s old photo albums—it was uncanny; the girl really looked like her mother as a child! When she mentioned it to her father, he only scolded her gently.
“Honey, you just miss your mom. What mystical nonsense! You need to think about having your own children.”
Alexandra blushed—in reality, she had met a guy named Paul in a preparatory course and had already gone on three dates with him. But talking about kids seemed premature. Her dad must have picked up on her rosy cheeks.
“Did you ask if his family had any hearing loss?”
“Oh, Dad!”
From childhood, their parents had pressed upon her and her brother the importance of finding out early in a relationship if a potential partner carried the recessive gene for hearing loss, as both she and her brother Andrew were carriers.
“What, Dad…?! Asking costs nothing.”
She had to make a quick retreat.
Whether it was the idea of soul migration or the truth that the girl was delightful and advanced, Alexandra grew very attached, dreading the day they might be separated. Maybe her father was right—it might be time for her to have her own children. But she was so young, with dreams of education… She found herself discussing this with Helen, who worked tirelessly to provide a decent life for her daughter and herself.
“You need to study!” Helen insisted. “I had to drop out because of pregnancy, and now I can’t advance beyond a certain level at work. It’s frustrating—I have more experience and knowledge than some fresh graduate who only knows how to shuffle paperwork.”
“What about the child’s father?” Alexandra inquired cautiously. In the four months she’d been nannying, there had been no sign of the little girl’s dad.
“He’s not around,” Helen replied.
“What do you mean, not around?”
“Just that. He doesn’t even know he has a daughter. We met in a different city—I was visiting a friend for a week and met him at a bar. It was love at first sight! We planned to meet again soon—either he’d fly over or I’d visit him. But it didn’t happen—he broke up with me via email, saying sorry, we couldn’t be together, I deserved better, and all that.”
“Wow… And you didn’t know you were expecting?”
“I didn’t. Found out a week later. Decided to have the baby,” Helen smiled. “Never regretted it for a moment.”
“Yes, Annie is wonderful. She reminds me so much of my mum,” Alexandra admitted suddenly.
Helen laughed. “You and Annie have a karmic connection, I’ve noticed.”
“I told my dad that, and he mocked me. Said I should have my own kids.”
“Focus on studying first, then think about children,” Helen advised. “Don’t end up like me.”
For the New Year, Alexandra and her father planned to visit her brother in the neighboring city—he ran a department in a travel agency and couldn’t leave for long. Alexandra had visited him only once and loved his fabulous apartment on the fifteenth floor with a stunning view. She had thoughtfully bought Annie a gift beforehand—after a long search, she found a teddy bear just like the one her mother used to have. The little girl loved the bear and said she’d sleep with it.
Sitting in her brother’s cozy kitchen, enjoying casual conversations, Alexandra received a message from Helen with a picture of little Annie sleeping soundly, cuddling the plush bear. Alexandra teared up and showed the photo to Andrew, sharing the story of their karmic connection and soul migration.
“Alex, are you serious? Soul migration?”
“Listen—Annie resembles our mum more than her own mother! Look here.”
She found a selfie on her phone taken the day before, featuring her, Annie, and Helen, and handed it to her brother. He scrutinized it for a long time before asking in an unfamiliar voice, “What’s her name?”
“Annie, I said. Yeah, not like our mum.”
“No, not the girl. The woman.”
“Helen. Why?”
Her brother swallowed hard. “Does Annie…does she have problems with her hearing?”
“Thank you, what have I been saying for the past half hour? Yes, the girl has a hearing aid! Even in this, she’s similar! Helen’s father has the same condition our mum had, and it’s more about genes than soul migration, but just think…”
Her brother jumped up and began pacing the room.
“How old is she? When was she born?”
“Why are you asking?” Alexandra began but then froze, covering her mouth in shock. Whispering, so as not to scare away her thought, she murmured, “Helen said he broke up with her via email and didn’t know about the child. Was it you?”
The next day, all three of them were flying back, somehow grabbing the last few tickets. Their dad wiped tears away while looking at photos of his newfound granddaughter, and Andrew bit his lip, just like when they were kids, repeatedly asking Alexandra about Helen and Annie. Alexandra was the only calm one—she knew everything would turn out fine. And no matter what, the soul migration was still a possibility.
